In a study, researchers placed 6-month-old infants on a "visual cliff" apparatus, a glass-covered table with a shallow side and a deep drop visible beneath the glass. Mothers stood on the deep side and called the infants. Most infants crawled across the shallow side but refused to cross the deep side, even when coaxed. Infants who had recently begun crawling showed the strongest avoidance.
The infants' avoidance of the deep side most directly demonstrates the use of which depth cue?
- A
Top-down processing of verbal warnings from caregivers
- B
Bottom-up processing of color contrast only
- Ccheck_circle
Binocular and monocular depth cues such as texture gradient and retinal disparity
- D
Sensory adaptation to the glass surface
Explanation
The visual cliff demonstrates that infants perceive depth using multiple cues including texture gradient and binocular disparity, suggesting these abilities emerge early.